ISLAMABAD: (APP) An anti-terrorism court (ATC) Tuesday allowed the Islamabad Police to initiate proclamation proceedings against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PTI) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in SSP Asmatullah Junejo attack case.
ATC-II Judge Sohail Ikram allowed the application of Secretariat Police after the station house officer informed the court that the suspects could not be arrested in the case despite issuance of arrest warrants against them.
Imran Khan, Dr Qadri and many others were booked for their alleged involvement in an attack on the then Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo during the 2014 sit-in in the federal capital.
With the court's permission, the police will now initiate proceedings under Section 87 (proclamation for person absconding) of the Criminal Procedure Code against Imran Khan and Qadri as they have so far failed to appear before the court in the case.
Earlier, the police informed the ATC that execution of the arrest warrants issued against Imran and Qadri could not take place as they were not found at their residences.
The police had submitted a report before the ATC saying that a police party went to the residence of Imran Khan in Banigala where a security guard informed them that neither Imran was at home nor he knew where he was. Subsequently, the police said, the warrants of arrest could not be executed.
Previously, the ATC had issued warrants for Imran and Qadri with the directives to the police to produce them before the court.
The SSP was brutally beaten up by the protesters on Constitution Avenue on on September 1, 2014. The incident took place within 24 hours of his taking charge as SSP Operations Islamabad.